“She talked me into going to New York, as you know. I really thought the mother was a witch when I got there, sitting there with your sister and her, this mother’s fiancé. Then one by one they left me sitting in the restaurant. After showing me pictures of how happy Suzanne was with Kerry. I sat there alone and went to my hotel and then to a church near the hotel.
“And, William, I prayed. As hard as I could, I prayed. I spoke to God.” She was leaning forward, tears beginning at the memory. He did not move, his glass slightly rolling in his hand.
“I was not weak. I was alive. William. How could our God condemn our daughter? How? She is what she is. Mary is what she is.
So I called the mother the next day, and I met with her. I begged her to let me see Suzanne again. I promised her that I would accept her. And she let me meet her daughter, Kerry, the girl Suzanne is going to marry.” He flinched yet again at a word his wife used.